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Thread: 14 year old seeking advice!

  1. #11
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Mystic CT,
    Posts
    583

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    I was in a very similar situation to you not 7 years ago. i was given a series III 88 for christmas in 8th grade and it had been garaged since 1979. At least I had a solid frame and good wiring to start with.

    to free the engine, pull the spark plugs and put marvel mystery oil down there and let is sit for a few days, then refill and wait some more, and you never know it might just free up.

    When and if it is free, put new spark plugs in it, put a new battery in it, check the carb for debris, and then put a little fresh gas down it and see if it kicks. I was surprised when my 88 roared to life after 26 years of neglect and minor maintenance.

    hopefully nothing is wrong with the engine or transmission, typically when one of those failed they either junked the truck or parked it. If those have/had oil in them the whole time hopefully the insides are still good.

    Expect to replace everything rubber and all of your hydraulic systems will need a good sorting. Obtain a green bible or the workshop manual cd and it will provide step by step instructions for everything you will ever need to do to your rover, makes it less like a challenge and more into a big set of Lego's. Post pictures up here and more often then not the forum can also be an invaluable source of information as well.

    What i cannot stress enough is take your time and do everything right the first time. When people told me this I thought I knew it all and half assed a few things to get it on the road, which ended up taking 3 times longer to fix in the long run. The trucks been sitting for how many years? A few more months wont hurt it.

    The hardest part of the ordeal for me was resisting the teenage temptation to beat things up and treat it like a modern disposable car, especially in the woods. My 88 started out with a straight body with minimal dents, and now there isnt a straight panel on it. I've blown and rebuilt my transmission twice, rolled it over, and sunk it up to its dashboard in water (not all in the same day). I regret it now looking back as most/all situations were very avoidable, but I have a story to go with each dent, and the aluminum can be annealed and bent back when I'm done having fun with it one day.
    Let the journey begin,
    -Rob

    p.s. as an incentive to finish it while your still young, its the ultimate chick magnet
    ------------------------------------------------
    72 SIII 88
    67 SIIA 109
    82 SIII Stage 1 V8
    -- http://www.youtube.com/barnfind88 --

  2. #12
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    Norwich, VT
    Posts
    84

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    here's what i've determined: i have a series IIa, bugeye. is this the rover that was not produced much?

    rwollschlager gave lots of tips for starting it up, but i have one question: when you say hydraulic lines, do you mean cooling/brake? i know it needs new brake lines, as that was the reason it was parked; the owner blew a brake line going down a hill and parked it in 1982. it was only driven for 11 years and has 88000 miles. ive heard that the running gear is only at half life... music to my ears !

    no pictures yet, but they'll come soon.

    any more tips would be great...

    thanks!
    ebben in vt

  3. #13
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    Redding, CT
    Posts
    1,504

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    Hey Ebben. Congrats on the rover! I'm looking forward to seeing your progress.

    Normally hydraulics would include the brake system and clutch. If your truck had a hydraulic PTO fitted that would be another story (but a super cool and rare bonus). By the way, only use Castrol GT LMA in the brakes and clutch. Other than DOT 5 which is super expensive, LMA is one of the few brake fluids that play well with the rubber still found in Girling (read: rover) hydraulics. DOT 3 or 4 is going to get the truck going but it will slowly eat away at the rubber, so if you use it then plan to flush the system later.

    For your truck though, the cooling system would probably also be included in the replacement scheme. Just the rubber coolant and heater lines though. And that is just because they are so old. I'm sure you could start it and run it with the original cooling lines, if they aren't broken, just to see that the engine is up to par. Eventually though, you'll need to replace them before you can trust in the truck.

    Something else you should do is hammer around the frame to find the weak spots. Pay close attention to the front horns (the section of frame between the front springs), under the master cylinders and the rear stretches from the end of the transmission to the end of the springs. If any of that goes "thud" or "crunch" then do not drive the truck as it might collapse under it's own weight. It's all fixable and if you have the time then cut and weld away.

  4. #14
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    Bergen County NJ
    Posts
    265

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    Ebben, welcome to the party! (It's a slow, leaky, rusting party but a fun one!)

    Check the Bugeye Registry thread and compare your trucks serial# to the list, see if you can maybe find it! You can post it there and get it added to the list.

    Hydraulic systems use fluid in pipes to transfer motion a far distance. (for us it's brakes/clutch) Its how pushing your brake pedal in the cab can make your brake cylinders move at the far corners of the truck. Imagine if there was a mechanical system of rods and connectors that had to move all that distance - it would be a huge complicated system prone to rusting and lots of friction. Not what you'd want for critical things like brakes and clutches! The engineers use Hydraulics, because the pipes can be bent to run anywhere and efficiently transfer motion. Power steering systems use hydraulic pressure to assist the steering wheel, and the rams on construction equipment (shiny silver rods/pistons) use hydraulic power too - to get the power of the engine to move the digging arms.

    Rover also made an accessory hydraulic pump that ran off the trucks transfer case. It could constantly circulate hydraulic fluid under great pressure to drive any number of accessories. Winch, diggers, etc etc. If you have this consider yourself very lucky..

    The cooling system uses a pump to circulate water/coolant. Not under great pressure like you brakes or clutch, and its a constant flow, unlike your brakes/clutch which only move when you push a pedal. The coolant circulates through your engine, drawing heat out of the metal, and then when the hot coolant gets to the radiator, the air being drawn through the radiators fins pull the heat out of the coolant.. It then continues on its way back to your engine to grab more heat and give it to the air.


    have fun!

    ~Steve

  5. #15
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Location
    Bethlehem, PA
    Posts
    400

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    Walker
    1968 Series IIA-"Ronnie"
    88" SW, 2.25L Petrol, LHD

  6. #16
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    Norwich, VT
    Posts
    84

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    well, it's official. i got a land rover! if all goes as planned it'll be in our yard on sunday, but things don't always work as i plan them... ha!

    i'll post some pics and the serial number once it gets here, but for now i'm one happy boy!

    thanks for the tips, and as before, any more would be appreciated!

    ebben

  7. #17
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Posts
    1,199

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    Ha, well the first thing you will learn is that "free" never means "free" or cheap. It's going to cost you several thousand just to get it on the road what with redoing the brakes, new tires, and all the other stuff you will have to do to get it thru inspection and licensing. Hope you have a way of building up cash reserves for your project, it's going to take plenty. That's the deal with old vehicles and Rovers in particular since they aren't very well put together.
    Pretty much everything mechanical, that is, things that make is go and stop, are still readily available or can be substituted with modern equivalents. The things that are not available too easily are the body panels. As you may realize, these trucks were beaten to death for the most part, and finding good replacements is very difficult ($$$$$) as the spares were used up on them long ago.
    They make some reproduction parts like doors and tailgates, but they tend to be poor quality.
    Seek out those who retain socks of the original parts such as Pangolin, Rovers Down South and the like. Keep them on speed dial.
    Brush up on those degreasing skills. Cruddy parts can be soaked clean in a lye solution. Very green, very earth friendly. Rusty parts can be soaked clean in a bath of Hydrochloric Acid (available at the hardware store in gallons). Wear rubber gloves and don't breathe near the stuff. Put your parts in and let them sit for a day or so. Rinse it all real good and dry with a heatgun or compressed air to reduce flash rust.

  8. #18
    Join Date
    Jul 2010
    Location
    Auckland, NZ
    Posts
    451

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    Quote Originally Posted by o2batsea View Post
    first thing you will learn is that "free" never means "free" or cheap. It's going to cost you several thousand just to get it on the road
    Grinch.
    Alan

    109 Stage 1 V8 ex-army FFR
    2005 Disco 2 HSE

    http://www.youtube.com/user/alalit

  9. #19
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Posts
    1,199

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    Quote Originally Posted by disco2hse View Post
    Grinch.
    What? Am I lying?

    Oh and one other thing, don't put any aluminum parts in the above mentioned cleaning solutions. They will boil away.

  10. #20
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Location
    Wenham, MA
    Posts
    310

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    Here are a couple ways to keep costs down. First off play to your strengths. I will bet half the board here wants to live vicariously through you, 14 and a rover project sounds dreamy to most of us. If you are in dire need of some part I am sure some grumpy old fart will part with some stuff hes saving for a project he knows he will never get to. We cannot list parts here for sale or wanted last I checked so I would search around for some boards where that happens. The guns and rovers board is a friendly and polite group, I am sure you will get some help there sourcing parts and advice. The 2.25 gas engine and ancillaries are pretty inexpensive as many folk have swapped that engine out. Which is great news for you as sourcing entire engines or ancillaries should be inexpensive. I dont think it is prudent to list the other parts vendors here but you should shop around, dont be afraid to ask for prices. There are 3 vendors of rover parts all in new england alone. There are technical manuals for your rover online in pdf form so I would start downloading those and use them as reference, back in the days before the interenet we called these manuals the green bible. Sounds like great fun and good luck. To have my one Debbie Downer moment DO NOT try and jury rig things, my cousin died doing just that on VW scirrocco 20 years ago, lets just say an open casket funeral was not an option. There are lots of good folks in the community that can help so be smart and learn to walk away when you dont feel you are in a safe situation. If it sat for 20 years a week or two while you get things sorted out properly isnt going to kill you.

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